Copy-holder.



' No. 694,446. Patented Mar. 4, I902.

. F. S. TDWLE.

coP HOLDER. (Application filed Julie 5, 1901.! I

(Ila new.)

Esll owla a /wwwo vattoznu I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FELIX S TOWL'E, OF HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY.

COPY-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 694,446, dated March 4, 1902.

Application filed June 5, 1901.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FELIX S. TO WLE, 2L citizen of the United States, residing at Hackensack, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Copy- Holder, of which the following is a specification. t

The present invention relates to improvements in copy-holders; and one of the objects thereof is to provide an article of this character which will hold a stenographers notebook and may be used as a lap-support for the same while taking notes, as well as hold the book at an inclination while the operator is transcribing the same.

Afurther object of the invention is to construct the entire device, with the exception of its supporting-leg, from a. single piece of metal formed in a manner to facilitate the secure retention of the book and having a supporting-base sufficiently extensive to 'cause the holder to stand solidly upon the supporting-surface regardless of imperfections in the construction or mounting of the supporting-leg.

To the accomplishment of these objects the construction described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings is employed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a copy-holder embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on the line X X of Fig. 3.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In the construction shown in the drawings a platform 10 is provided, having at its lower end a ledge upon which the note-book is arranged to rest. A pair of transversely-disposed clips 12 are located near the upper end of the platform and above the upper face and contiguous to the side edges thereof, the outer ends of said clips" being secured to the platform and. the inner ends free and arranged to engage over'the side edges of the rear cover of thetbook. The platform above the clips is provided with a transverse opening 13, the ends of which are substantially Serial No. 63,273. (No model.)

the same distance from the edges of the platform as the outer ends of the clip.

In the practical construction the entire platform is made of a single sheet of metal,

the ledge being formed by bending the lower end of said sheet and the clips being cut from the sheet and upset or bent outwardly to proper form. The ledge extended forwardly from the metal plate constituting the platform or rack is in turn bent longitudinally to form a pocket 14: immediately adjacent to and in front of the plate, and a flange 11 downwardly inclined from the front upper edge of the pocket and constituting a sup- POltin advance of the bottom of said pocket, which latter also constitutes a supporting or hearing part for the device. The angular disposition of this flange is such that in the normal position of the holder the bottom of the pocket 14 and the lowerfront edge of the flange will lie in the samehorizontal plane and will be in contact with the table or other support upon which the holder is placed. The pocket and flange thereby constitute abroad supporting-base which will cause the holder to stand squarely and solidly, notwithstanding any slight imperfections in the construction or adjustment of the supporting-leg 15, to be described. The provision of this supportingbase is a desideratum, because the supporting-legs of devices of this character are usuallyconstructed of wire and are more or less liable to become distorted, and thereby render the position of the copy-holder insecure.

For the purpose of holding the platform at an inclination asupporting-leg 15 is employed,

which in the construction shown is formed of a single piece of wire, the upper end being bent to provide a horizontal shaft 16, that is disposed transversely across the rear face of the platform and is pivotally secured thereto by means of the clips 17. This shaft carries an offstanding stop-finger 18, that is arranged to bear against the platform and limit the outward'movement of the leg. When the leg is in its operative position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, its lower end will be in the same horizontal plane as the bottom of the pocket 14 and the outer edge of the supporting-flange 11, so that the device will be supported by three separated bearing parts, constituting an extensive and highly-effective supportingbase.

The manner of using the copy-holder will be apparent. The cover of a note-book is passed down between the clips and the platform and its lower edge rests upon the ledge ll. The operator may thus use it for taking notes by folding the supporting-leg against the rear face of the platform, so that it may be held comfortably upon the lap. W'hen said operator desires to transcribe the notes taken upon the book, it is only necessary to throw the supporting-leg to the proper operative position and place the holder upon a table, whereupon it will be supported at the proper inclination. As fast as the notes contained on the pages are transcribed said pages are passed through the transverse opening above the clips, and are thus held against any accidental return movement.

By this construction it will be seen that a copy-holder is provided which may be used both as a lap-desk or as a support while transcribing. Furthermore, the note-book is so held that the leaves are entirely free, as the clips only engage the cover, A further and important ad vantage is that the entire device is a simple article of manufacture which can be constructed at an exceedingly low cost in that portions of the platform are employed for holding the note-book in place, thus dispensing with the use of any separate holders.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction,operation,and many advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art Without fu rther description, and it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A copy-holder comprising a metal plate formed with a transverse opening, with a pair of oppositely-disposed integral clips springing from the plate adjacent to and directly below the opposite ends of the opening, and with a forwardly-projecting ledge at its lower extremity, said ledge being bent to form a pocket arranged to rest directly upon the supporting-surface, and a flange downwardly inclined from the front edge of said pocket and disposed to contact with the supporting-surface at an advanced point, and a swinging supporting-leg secured to the back of the plate and arranged to contact with the supportingsurface at a point in rear of the pocket, whereby the copy-holder proper is provided with an extensive integral supporting-base contacting with the supporting-surface at a plurality of separated points, and is formed with a pocket for the reception of the lower edge of the book.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FELIX S. TOWLE.

Witnesses:

GEORGE W. GIBBONS,

THEODORE M. Gnanoxs. 

